The evening began with the invocation by Little Beaver Wildcat and the Colors were brought in by the Seminole Color Guard (2 members are alumni).  School Superintendent, Dr. Gloria Sly updated us on Sequoyah; the school appears to doing quite well after some troubled times in the recent past. 

      The school athletic teams have been doing very well.  The football team made the playoffs, the basketball team has been very competitive and Sequoyah has always been known for outstanding athletes in track and field. 

      George Cameron was recognized as being instrumental in the creation of the Sequoyah Veterans Memorial.  He led the group of alumni who designed and raised the funds to build the memorial.  Cecil Shipp and several others did the leg work of collecting names and supervising the construction.  George's group of volunteers have given the school and the Sequoyah Alumni Association something we can be proud of and a way to honor the Alumni Veterans that have served our country. 

      This year we decided to do something a little different; we recognized the Classes by decades. The old way of recognizing each class was taking too much time.  Understandable, considering we had alumni from as far back as 1935 (that's 62 years).  Using decades allowed those who attended in the same era, to stand as a group.  Also some Classes had no representative present and this way we didn't waste our limited time looking for them.

      This also meant we eliminated the very popular catagory of "Class with most attending".  Thomas Coon informed me that there were about 18 members of the  "Class of 1972" celebrating their 25th anniversary. 

       Next year we will make an effort to recognize special groups:  25th and 50th year anniversaries, most in attendance and groups that make a special effort to get their classmates to attend the reunion. 

       Former teachers and employees were recognized next. I remember seeing Mrs. Louise Covey (Home-Ec), Etta Mae Vann (girls dorm), Ms. Agnes Shattuck (teacher), Turner Bear (teacher), Mr. Ed Lowery (teacher) and Robert Sanders (property clerk). The oldest to attend was Ms. Meigs, the school's head cook in the 40's, 50's and 60's. Sadly, she won't be with us at the next reunion, she passed away in August; she was 98. 
 
      Jackson Narcomey, a well known artist who attended Sequoyah in the late 50's and early 60's, donated one of his paintings named "Stick Ball Player" to be raffled for the Foundation's benefit.  He also donated some "Stick Ball Player" tee shirts for door prizes. 

      A fine meal prepared by Jim Justice and his staff, was enjoyed by all.  Like most Sequoyah "kids", I still enjoy pinto beans and cornbread. They were almost as good as I remember; I liked the "Stilwell" strawberry short cake with whipped cream best. 

      We finished the evening with the whole group singing. We sang the Alma Mater of 1938.  Oh you remember, it goes..."Oh Sequoyah School so dear, thy sons from far and near.....". Then we sang "It's Old Sequoyah" and finished with a strong rendition of "Hail! Hail! The Gang's All Here!". 

      I would like to thank Alumni President, Elliot Pulliam for another fine job of emceeing and all the members who helped make this reunion a sucess. 

Thank You!

Charles Cochran
Class of 1960